Barbara is a feisty woman with three teenagers. She easily keeps her kids in line and won’t let people push her around – except for her husband. Around Jim, she is a doormat and a very angry one too. She always compromises her needs and goes along with whatever Jim wants. No one can figure ...…
It’s 7AM and I’m parked in my big overstuffed chair drinking coffee. My husband, who missed his early morning run due to rain, was leaving the house. I casually said to him, “Hey, it’s too bad you didn’t think of working out in my office.” I was startled when he snapped at me. I swallowed back the snarl that felt like coming out of my mouth and began asking lots of questions so I could find out what was wrong – and fix it. Yes, he was pretty frustrated to miss his workout. We talked and he left for work feeling much better. But I didn’t feel good and I knew why. When my husband barked at me I immediately went into rescue mode. Whatever wasn’t working, …
Recently a colleague shared with me how stressful her family’s recent visit was. It reminded me of all the scuffles I had with my in-laws. They were Greek immigrants and our cultural differences caused us all a lot of grief. I’ll never forget their first visit to our home. Day one – I got up ...…
